


What's Hidden

by starry_nights88



Category: Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fic, heronstairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starry_nights88/pseuds/starry_nights88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will was never one to be caught off guard; always vigilant, always observant. However, if anyone were capable of catching him off guard, it would be his <i>parabatai</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's Hidden

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** caught off guard
> 
> tumblr prompt fic for Avari.

It has been said that, for all of his drunken misadventures and carefully schooled expressions of boredom and disinterest, William Herondale was actually quite perceptive. It wasn't a well-known fact, but those who knew him well could attest to it. None more so than James Carstairs; who experienced Will's prowess in perception on a regular basis, being his _parabatai_ and, oftentimes, his late-night companion – and, by companion, it meant being Will's collector; scraping him up off of cobbled streets after a drunken brawl with werewolves or vampires or any other matter of nighttime creatures.

As was the case on this night; a night similar to many others before it with Jem hanging around outside one of Will's usual haunts, pointedly ignoring the curious, and at times hostel, stares from the patrons as they came or went. Luckily, this time, he didn't have to wait long before Will came stumbling out of the door, nearly tripping over his own feet. He was caught, easily, by Jem and it was a relief to see Will stumbling instead of getting dragged or thrown out by an angry mob as Jem was accustomed to.

"James!" Will exclaimed with obvious, drunken joy and surprise as though he hadn't been the one to drag Jem out of the Institute in the first place. "Fancy running into you here! I didn't think you were one for the drink."

And, Jem, he sighed – softly, yet heavily, laced with annoyance and just the slightest bit of fondness as they stumbled along the street, unknowingly pursued by a small group of werewolves. Well, perhaps, not unknowingly as Will stiffened against Jem's side, drunkenness giving way to a soberness as he glanced over his shoulder minutely. "Don't look now," he said in a hushed whisper, barely audible if it weren't for the fact that Will's lips were nearly pressed against Jem's ear. "But we're being followed."

Jem didn't have to look, he could hear them. "I thought you were drunk," he remarked dryly, and Will merely gave him a crooked grin in reply. "I suppose we can't talk our way out of this, hm?"

"Not likely," Will replied, snorting softly, his grin turning devilish. "I might've insulted them."

"Of course you did," Jem replied, aggravated, but then again, a note of thinly veiled amusement was laced throughout the tone of his voice. Slowly, the two men came to a stop, the werewolves just a scant twenty feet away from them. "No sense in prolonging the inevitable," he murmured softly.

The curve of Will's lips was like sunlight glinting off of steal. "Good man."

\- - -

"Will, stop. You're bleeding."

Will paused, but only when Jem reached out and grasped his shoulder. He glanced over at his _parabatai_ , an eyebrow arched. "So are you," Will pointed out, and it was rather obvious that neither man had managed to leave the confrontation completely unscathed, but the other guys looked worse in Will's opinion – the _only_ opinion that mattered to him; besides Jem's, that is. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know."

"Do _you_ know," Jem said softly, sighing as he reached to wipe away the blood from Will's sluggishly bleeding lip. "That for someone so observant – " His thumb was firm on Will's lip, but surprisingly gentle, tender as it swiped away the glistening blood. "You're awfully blind."

The frown was very nearly instantaneous, and almost bordering on a pout. "What's that supposed to mean," Will asked, and his only reply was a secret little smile that only seemed to serve to frustrate him to no end, because it was hardly a proper answer. "James," he pushed a little more insistently. "What's _that_ supposed to mean."

Jem snorted softly, smiling still, as he stepped closer – not that there was much distance between them to begin with. Now, they were nearly touching, mere centimeters between them, and Jem's hand (the same one he had used to brush away the blood on Will's lip) was against Will's neck. "What I mean is," he said softly, his gaze intent. "You're not as observant as you think you are, or else you'd realize why I follow you at night, and why I wait for you outside your pubs and dens."

"Tell me," Will requested softly, and his only answer was that very same secretive little smile, but _this time_ he thought he knew what it meant as Jem leaned closer, closing the distance between them, and Jem's lips were soft – softer than Will would have ever thought, and sweet. So sweet.

The secretive little smile was a smile solely meant for him, for Will, and it meant – it _had_ to mean, but Jem was already pulling away before Will could contemplate it any further. "Well," Will said after a few moments, Jem still grinning. "That was unexpected."

Jem laughed, softly and sweetly, and his cheeks were flushed with color under the moonlight. "Oh?" he replied. "You mean I caught you off guard?"

Softly, Will hummed in affirmation, his palm cupping Jem's cheek as he leaned forward, taking Jem's lips again, and maybe –

_Maybe_ he wasn't as observant as he thought.


End file.
